Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The fact that I can buy purple carrots for the same price as orange carrots is a marvel to me. Why?

1. Because purple carrots have a gazillion times more antioxidants than orange carrots.
Well, 2x more beta carotene and 28x more anthocyanins, anyway. They're not only good for your eyes, but your liver, your heart, and your glucose; they can help reduce inflammation in the body, and mop up free radicals. And there's scientific evidence to say so.

2. Because your average curry will look other-worldly with purple carrots in it.

3. Because they taste great, of course.
My favourite ways to enjoy carrots?

Roasted carrots, with olive oil and sea salt.
My mother-in-law's famous carrot cake with walnuts.Spelt and carrot muffins.
Refreshing grated carrot salad.
That special cake I just made for Nelle's birthday (recipe coming soon!)
Orange and carrot juice for breakfast.
Carrot juice popsicles, with a dash of honey.

Want to read more? Here are some other recipes for purple carrots, from some of my favourite blogs:

@The Vanilla Bean Baker Paula - I might experiment with a couple of purple carrot cakes ... the one I made for Nelle I did with wholemeal flour and it came out kinda brown. The icing, however, was a lovely shade of pink! And not a drop of red40 anywhere :)

We used to get the odd bunch when we would get our Food Connect Box here in Adelaide. My 3 year old started eating raw carrot thanks to the purple carrots ..... yay for them being her favourite colour!!! I love purple carrots.

I don't really like carrots but love purple carrots. I think it's because they look so exotic and alien that it makes eating them fun for me. Knowing how healthy they are is a sure plus. When I saw them at my Farmer's Market for the same price as regular carrots, I had to ask because I didn't believe it, but sure enough, they were. I was stoked. Yay for purple carrots!